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Virtualisation challenges and strategies

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: “Imagine if you could shift your IT spend from 70 percent on maintenance and 30 percent innovation the other way around to 30 percent maintenance and 70 percent on innovation,” said Craig Slattery, Director, Enterprise Solutions, APJ, Dell.

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Addressing IT heads of various enterprises, Slattery speaking at Dell’s ‘Future of Computing’ conference in Bangalore, recounted how virtualisation technology has impacted organizations and in the process turned out as the “the biggest disruptor within IT since 2001.”

According to him, the future of computing is simplifying IT and the key is virtualization. Virtualisation to a large extent has resolved challenges such as system management, cooling on account of server proliferation being installed for every application since the advent of the x86 technology. Stressing on the cost benefits of virtualization, Slattery noted that for every $1 spent on server technology 10 cents are spent on cooling it, and for every $1 spent on server technology $8 are spent on service support and maintenance.

With cost savings of 25 percent in a virtual environment, there can be greater returns by enabling more virtual racks he said. 

Enterprises will be able to gain real value of virtualization only through lon tern provisioning, which will enable high availability, disaster recovery and result in an agile environment – an environment which is automated, said Slattery. For an enterprise to be agile, he said that policies must be based on business needs, and that CIOs must focus on driving technology and strategy in step to achieve that goal.

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Acknowledging the fact that virtualization comes with a level of complexity, Slattery underlined key areas that need to be addressed such as:

a. The technology to be virtualized

b. the form factor to be used

c. which virtualization technology to be used.

d. Impact on the network

e. Management- physical to virtual and vice versa

f. how to control virtual sprawl as compared to physical sprawl and the processes to check it

Some of the challenges arising from the knowledge front are resources, strategy, mix of technology, how to reclaim hidden assets within the data center. And according to Slattery, using standards bases technology is the best option.  

He also notes that virtualization must be pervasive from the – desktop to the datacenter and that over the next there years virtualization in the client space will be make a big difference.

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Underscoring a growing trend in computing, Slattery said that, “virtualistaion is not  only for large customers, it is for organizations at all levels - mid-level to SoHo. And that is where we are going with the future of technology.”

Dell for its part is focusing on enabling all server modes with virtualization  technology from the factory. While quad core allows increased virtual loads on a system, one can expect more cores from Intel which will in turn better performance, said Slattery.

One of the biggest drivers for adoption of virtualization is consolidation. To get the most out of a virtual set up consolidation strategy is a must, says Slattery. He endorses iScSi saying that it enhance consolidation, earns better RoI and that because of the existing IP, managing virtualization becomes simpler. And with 10 gigabit gaining ground, large migrations and backup also becomes less complex. For those who have already invested in Fiber Channel, Dell’s Cx Series caters to both.

Another big challenge for customers is management. “Without the right strategy and management policy you will lose much of the benefits”, says Slattery. Stressing on holistic management tolls and a holistic view of systems management, he underlined the following points

- deploy, protect , monitoring

- customer focused approach to monitoring

- flexible tailored and non-disruptive

- to look at tolls which cover both physical and virtual environments

Slattery advises against heavy long term consulting engagements when it comes to services for a  modular, collaborative approach. “Nobody is a subject matter expert in every single workload – you need to have partners,” he opines.

Virtualization Basics:

As a parting shot, Slattery underlines few basis tips for virtualization:

- Adopt a strategic approach - comprehending platform tools and processes

- Execute through manageable projects- especially from a system management perspective – low risk situation

- Choose industry standard technologies to avoid lock –in and complexity

- Assess readiness- the first step to an effective strategy